Cuttack, November 29
India's young bowling attack performed creditably and justified stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag's decision to field as it restricted the West Indies to 211 for nine in the first One-Day International here on Tuesday. The bowlers took wickets at regular intervals to unsettle the Windies' rhythm and the visitors never really took charge despite maintaining a decent run-rate for some part of the innings.

The West Indies were at one stage in danger of being bowled out for under 200, but a cameo from Andre Russell (22) towards the end lifted them to a modest total. The batsmen showed lack of application on what appeared to be a batting-friendly track. Darren Bravo was the top-scorer with 60 (74b, 6x4) but the stylish left-hander could not convert his knock into a big one.

He was involved in a 75-run fourth-wicket partnership with Danza Hyatt (31 from 54 balls; 2x4, 1x6). It was upto Russell, who hit two fours and a six from 20 balls, to take the visitors past the 200-mark.

It was a flop show by the much-fancied Kieron Pollard who scored 13 from 33 balls in an uninspiring display. Umesh Yadav (2/33 from eight overs) was the pick of the three-pronged Indian pace attack, which ensured that the team did not miss Praveen Kumar who was ruled out of the series due to a fractured rib.

Varun Aaron also picked up two wickets in a disciplined show by the pace attack. R Vinay Kumar was the most experienced of the three pacers as they bowled in tandem for 14 overs, unsettling the top order.

The trio picked one apiece initially, with the top three of the Windies batting — Lendl Simmons (19), Adrian Barath (17) and Marlon Samuels (10) — making their way back to the dressing room with the scoreboard reading 52 for three.

The Windies top-order looked reckless in shot selection as Vinay gave the first breakthrough, dismissing Barath, who looked in elegant touch before edging one behind. Aaron began his spell with a bang when he castled a dangerous-looking Samuels who was beaten by a fast incoming delivery. Yadav, the most impressive of the three, generated good pace and got his reward when he went through Simmons’ defence with a 144kph trailblazer. He had an impressive first spell that read 5-1-22-1.

Bravo looked to rebuild the Windies innings with Hyatt but lack of sensible approach hurt the Windies' cause as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. A poor coordination between the duo resulted in Hyatt's run out while Bravo, dropped twice — on 27 and 59 — eventually departed for 60 after being foxed by part-time off-spinner Raina.

Big-hitter Pollard too did not last long, exposing the tail in what was another meek display by the Windies line-up. Earlier, Sehwag won the toss and, without any hesitation, asked the visitors to take first strike in front of a sellout crowd.

Unruly crowd stops play in Cuttack

Amid the excitement at the Barabati Stadium, an unfortunate incident marred proceedings during India's innings as play was stopped for about five minutes in the first one-dayer against the West Indies, here today. With India struggling at 47 for three in their chase of 212, a few frustrated ones in the jampacked crowd vented their ire at West Indies fielder Kieron Pollard by throwing missiles. — PTI

Scoreboard

West Indies

Simmons b Yadav 19

Barath c Patel b Vinay 17

Samuels b Aaron 10

Bravo b Raina 60

Hyatt run out 31

Pollard c Kohli b Ashwin 13

Ramdin c & b Yadav 14

Sammy b Jadeja 0

Russell b Aaron 22

Roach not out 12

Martin not out 3

Extras: (lb-4, w-6) 10

Total: (9 wkts; 50 overs) 211

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-46, 3-52, 4-127, 5-154, 6-159, 7-169, 8-183, 9-200.

Bowling: Vinay 6-0-27-1, Yadav 8-1-33-2, Aaron 9-0-47-2, Ashwin 10-1-30-1, Jadeja 10-0-42-1, Raina 5-0-20-1, Rohit 2-0-8-0.

India

Patel c Martin b Roach 12

Sehwag b Russell 20

Gambhir c Ramdin b Roach 4

Kohli b Roach 3

Rohit b Martin 72

Raina c Bravo b Russell 5

Jadeja c Simmons b Pollard 38

Ashwin run out 6

Vinay c Roach b Sammy 18

Aaron not out 6

Yadav not out 6

Extras (lb 3, w 16, nb 4) 23

Total (9 wkts; 48.5 overs) 213

Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-41, 3-47, 4-51, 5-59, 6-142, 7-159, 8-201, 9-201.

Bowling: Roach 10-0-46-3, Martin 6-1-35-1, Russell 9-1-29-2, Sammy 8.5-1-40-1, Samuels 10-0-37-0, Pollard 5-0-23-1.

New Delhi, November 29
Indian seamer Praveen Kumar has been ruled out of next month's Test series in Australia after fracturing a rib, the Indian cricket board announced on Tuesday.

"Praveen Kumar underwent a scan last evening and was found to have a fractured rib as per the report that came through today," the board said in a statement.

"He is expected to recover in five-six weeks and has therefore been ruled out of the (ongoing) one-day series against the West Indies as well as the Test series in Australia that follows."

Kumar's replacement for the Australia tour will be named on December 5, the statement added.

The 25-year-old has bagged 27 wickets in six Tests and 69 wickets in 61 one-day internationals.

India open the three-month tour on December 15 with two practice matches in Canberra ahead of the first Test starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26. The remaining Tests will be played in Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

This will be followed by two Twenty20 internationals, before Sri Lanka join in for a one-day tri-series from February 5. — AFP 

Mohali, November 29
Stylish left-hander Uday Kaul and reliable Mandeep Singh both slammed unbeaten half-centuries as Punjab ended the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite division Group-A match against Railways at 212 for 3 at the PCA Stadium here on Tuesday. At close of play, Uday Kaul was unbeaten with 82 while Mandeep was batting with a fluent 61 runs against his name.

Railways won the toss and decided to bowl first and this decision seemed to have paid off when they got rid of Punjab openers -- Manan Vohra and Ravi Inder Singh quite early. Manan scored 5 while Ravi Inder could manage just 20 runs. Ravi though managed to put on a crucial 42-run stand with Karan Goel for the second wicket before he fell to JP Yadav’s bowling to be caught by wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat. After Ravi’s departure, Goel continued in the able company of Kaul and the duo shared a 46-run stand. Railways also managed to see off Goel (36, studded with four boundaries) to leave Punjab at 97 for three. However, Kaul and Mandeep rebuilt the innings by putting together an unbeaten 115-run fourth-wicket partnership. In his 234-minute stay at the wicket today, Kaul faced 183 deliveries, striking 11 fours in his patient knock, while Mandeep's 110-ball knock included eight fours. For Railways, JP Yadav (one for 36), Krishnakant Upadhyay (one for 41) and Anupreet Singh (one for 57) were the wicket-takers. Brief Scores: Punjab 1st Innings: 212 for three in 90 overs (Uday Kaul batting 82, Mandeep Singh batting 61; Karan Goel 36, JP Yadav 1/36). 

New Delhi, November 29
Competing for the first time in what has been mostly an all-European event, a four-member Indian boxing team gave a good account of itself, clinching two silver and a bronze medal at the 32nd International Tammer Invitational Tournament in Tampere, Finland.

While Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Madan Lal (52kg) managed to notch up silver medals, Asian Games gold-medallist V Santhosh (64kg) settled for a bronze in the event. Invited twice before as well, India could not send a team previously because of logistical issues.

"On the past two occasions, something or the other would keep happening and we were not being able to send a team. The good thing is that the boys have done well," said an Indian Boxing Federation official. The small Indian contingent returned to the country today after being the sole Asian squad in the tournament which featured 16 countries, including traditional powerhouses such as Russia, England, Wales and Scotland.

"Out biggest adversary there was not the rival teams but the weather. It was freezing, we could hardly move out and were mostly restricted to indoor training. It was a reasonably good performance," said coach Jagdeep Hooda who accompanied the team. The 19-year-old Sangwan, competing in only his second senior international tournament, was elated at clinching a medal in a competition featuring mostly Europeans.

"I couldn't get a medal in my debut event and this silver would surely boost my prospects," said the imposing Haryana boxer, who idolises statemate and Olympic hero Vijender Singh. — PTI

Johannesburg, November 29
Pedro Ibarra and Agustin Alejandro Mazzilli scored two goals as Pan-American champions Argentina bounced back from a half-time deficit to outplay Malaysia 5-2 and top Pool B in the Champions Challenge hockey here today.

Argentina finished with seven points through two wins and a draw. Japan pulled off a surprise 2-1 victory over Canada to take the second spot in the four-team group, with five points from a victory and two drawn matches.

Canada had three points from the win over Malaysia, who just secured a single point from the draw against Japan. Malaysia enjoyed a 1-0 lead at half-time, opening the scoring through Azlan Misron's firm reverse drive past a crowded defence. — PTI 

New Delhi, November 29
India’s entry into the exclusive club of Formula One racing has opened up a vast vista of opportunity for motor sports to make a giant stride in the country. Till now, the sport was only at a nascent stage, with JK Tyres ploughing a lonely furrow to keep the enthusiasm for motor sports going in the country as their rivals, MRF, had begun concentrating their attention on the Asia-Pacific region a few years ago. But the country’s F-1 debut at the Greater Noida facility has not only firmed up the existing players’ resolve to strengthen their structure, but has also attracted new players to the field.

“This particular sport is a combination of man and machine and was patronised only by automobile industries, and their ancillary units,” observed Sanjay Sharma, the top honcho of JK Tyres’ motor racing wing. “But this industry does not have provision for certification; they have no platform to showcase their products. The advent of F-1 in Noida will give an opportunity for the auto majors to test their products and invest more into motor racing.”

Though the Greater Noida track will take a few more months to be thrown open for the many racing activities itching to pitch tents there, the hosting of the F-1 has already altered the playfield for the sport, particularly the unprecedented response generated for the inaugural edition.

According to Sharma, the Indian automobile industry did not witness a recession following the global meltdown, which has emboldened new players to enter the field and keep this business model going. Though General Motors entered the Indian market ten years ago, they got on the racing bandwagon only in 2006. “JK Tyres kept the domestic racing scene going for the past two decades and the arrival of the F-1 circuit to India has proved that our labour of love was worth the bother,” elaborated Sharma. He felt that the F-1 debut was in fact a natural progression to the structured racing programme prevalent in India.

Sharma said his company pulled out of all other fringe sports they have been involved with to exclusively concentrate on motor sports and the arrival of the circuit has given a shot in the arm to their racing programmes. Now, Tata Motors, Mahindras, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Maruti, General Motors etc. are some of the companies who have formed motor sport wings.

The Greater Noida track is a great boon for motor sports in North India, as the region had lacked this facility, though South and Central India had their facilities in place. “Today, the sport does have a presence in the country and we get more enquiries from auto manufacturers,” added Sharma.

He admitted that India were 5-7 years behind other countries due to inferior machines but the advent of the F-1 will soon change that profile. He said top Indian drivers like Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok and Arman Ebrahim had to face the handicap of driving inferior cars as no auto major was willing to invest money without seeing a future for the sport in the country. But that scenario will soon change.